"Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long To bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again
-- oh no!"
MacArthur Park
Richard Harris [performer]
Jimmy Webb [lyrics]
1968
That last "oh no!" isn't my comment,...they ARE the lyrics! At the time, it sure was one heck of a sturm und drang song. The Wikipedia entry is interesting and made me give it a bit more thought. I think it may well have been one of the few daringly sentimental songs in a time quickly turning to drugs, sex, and rock and roll. Curiously, it had the legs to weather the transition into Disco. Donna Summer's cover was at least as well received as the Richard Harris version!
But the inspiration for remembering these lyrics wasn't sentimental. No, it is the weather. The once lovely fluffy three-layer-snow-cake turned to slush. The triple ice layers also turned my usual 8-minute walk 'round half the park into 20-minutes of mincing old-lady, nose-down high stepping over lumpen ice blobs. Nevertheless, it was quite a good time, people hello-ing each other and wise-cracking about how nice it was outside. While park-walker chit chat isn't atypical here, there was more of it than usual, and for that I give thanks.
Here is a little "photovideo" I made of the snow-cake.
Merry Christmas to all!
Click for .wmv file [Windows Media]
